Project Apoyo

From writing letters from afar to sharing pizza and ice cream together…we love sponsor visit days!

We are grateful for generous families and joyful days like this. Education for the Children Foundation

Feliz cumpleaños 🎉 She is a tireless advocate for education and a fearless entrepreneur. She’s built libraries, developed curriculums, and empowered teachers, all for the betterment of lives here in Guatemala. We’re so proud to have you lead our education team!

Adolfo is the epitome of the word hustle. Despite a few business setbacks, he’s never taken his eye off of the prize of owning/running his own successful restaurant. We got to check out his new location on the busy 7th Calle in Antigua. He’s still serving up his signature pizzas and crepes (always a hit, see pic 2), but now he’s added wings, ciabatta sandwiches, and will soon be rolling out (no pun intended) his own handmade pasta. Antigua friends, stop in and see our guy on 7th (near NOKIATEand Hotel Camino Real Antigua) and follow on Instagram to see what Adolfo is cookin’ up.

As one of the earliest recipients of an Entrepreneurship Loan — in partnership with the Education for the Children Foundation— Adolfo is a shining example of perseverance and hard work for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Vamos!

Roman soldiers have flooded the streets of Antigua once more signifying that Easter Season is here. It’s always a joy to take in these beautifully cultural processions as we head toward Holy Week. We love what these annual traditions mean to the people of Guatemala and what they signify for our everyday Faith. If you haven’t, we’d encourage you to take a visit one year to see the spectacle in action!

Family-Owned and Operated. Community Hub. One-Stop-Shop.

These are just a few of the ways you can describe Cafe Luna - Internet Cafe y Librería. With one of our entrepreneurship loans, Callejas Gloria has not only transformed this building, but her community as a whole. There is internet for recreation or for homework. There are printers for students to print homework and teachers to print books. There are school supplies at affordable prices. And the employees are part of the family. We’re so proud of everything they’re doing and the impact they’re making. Vamos!

School is officially back in Guatemala! 📚 🎉

Classrooms are again bustling at our partner schools, The School of Hope () and La Escuela Chicamen. We hope you’ll join us in prayers for each student, teacher, and staff member. We love seeing the future leaders of this country start a new year with excitement. It wouldn’t be possible without your support, and for that, we give our sincerest thanks. Vamos!

Pizza + padrinos = party

Nothing better than sponsors getting together with their kiddos. Especially when it’s the first time they’ve met. Add in some pizza and ice cream from who received one of our entrepreneurship loans, and it’s a recipe for one special day.

One of our favorite Guatemalan traditions is a convivio, an end-of-year gathering for families, friends, businesses, etc. Recently, our pals at SanLu Bakery took theirs to the next level by hosting their team at Parque Calderas.

As recipients of our very first entrepreneurship loan, we could never have imagined that the brother duo of Jose and Andres would grow their business to 5 locations and 16 employees. We’re so proud of the way they treat their team with a focus on personal growth and community impact. Here’s to even more in 24!

Ending the year on a high note! We are so excited to introduce you to Israel, who just launched Andre Barbershop with one of our entrepreneurship loans! 💈 ✂️

Israel was one of the Education for the Children Foundation‘s first students when he started there in the 3rd grade. He would go on to study computer science in high school and two years of university systems engineering before deciding to focus on work and his family. He was employed at an industrial packaging factory for 7 years and worked his way up to plant manager. During this time, he took a course to become a barber as this was his true passion and he was exhausted after 7 years of night shifts. He then worked for a respected barbershop in Antigua for 2 years before applying for a loan to open his own specialty barbershop.

His shop is beautiful, his service is top notch, and we can’t wait to see the impact his business has on his family and his community. As always, thank you to the Education for the Children Foundation for their partnership in this program.

If you want to help us fund more entrepreneurs like Israel, click here https://bit.ly/apoyo-jobs to give today!

There are still a few tickets left for our second annual Shrimp Boil Fundraiser! We hope you join us Fermento in Antigua this Sunday from 2-4. Tickets include deliciously boiled shrimp, corn, potatoes, veggies + cornbread + beignets + LIVE MUSIC from our pal Colin Lake. All proceeds go directly toward our Entrepreneurship Program helping us launch more small businesses here in Guatemala!

You don't want to miss one of our favorite days of the year. See y'all there to boil up some support and create some jobs. Vamos! Buy your tickets here: https://apoyo.kindful.com/e/shrimp-boil

We invite you to join us in praying for Guatemala and its people as today is day 9 of protests across this great country. Protesters are demanding the resignation of Attorney-General Consuelo Porras who is accused of plotting to prevent President Elect Arévalo, who has promised to fight corruption, from taking office. To learn more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67064814

Thousands have filled the streets, using their “bloqueos” to stop the flow of traffic in order to get their message to be heard. We have been inspired by the peaceful protests that have been filled with flags, signs, dancing, singing, and shared national passion and pride. We stand with these citizens who are making sacrifices to protect their democracy and their right to have their voices heard and their votes counted.

But we acknowledge that these protests have real-life effects that trickle down throughout the country, making it hard to get necessities like gas and produce. We also know that like far too many things in life, this most affects those who have the least. So we ask for your prayers today. Prayers for peace. Prayers for softened hearts. Prayers for democracy and equality. Prayers that this incredible country can move forward in the way that the people choose. We know there are brighter days ahead, and we steadfastly hope that everyone stays safe and healthy until normal life can resume.

Gracias and vamos, Guate!

If you dream it, you can do it. 💫

Marcos runs a taco shop in the Antigua market called El Sazón Mexicano serving up delicious tacos, quesadillas, gringas, and shukos. He launched his restaurant via one of our Entrepreneurship grants and has quickly become a huge success.

He recently shared his story with students you sponsor during Entrepreneur week at the ’s School of Hope. By opening their eyes to what is possible, Marcos is helping the next generation dream bigger. We are so proud to see the huge impact these entrepreneurs are having in their communities. Vamos!

We believe jobs change lives, bringing dignity, stability, and hope. That’s why we’ve loved partnering up with the to create a full entrepreneurship program. Through your gifts toward this initiative, specialty classes are offered and a guidance counselor was hired, both preparing students for future jobs.

This week, through a collaboration with the National Employment Service, the EFTC took it up a notch and played host to a massive job fair featuring 20+ companies from our community. The newly hired guidance counselor prepped 75+ students and family members, helping with resumes and cover letters. 35 students received preferential entrance into the fair and several hundred people in total passed through in hopes of earning steady, gainful employment.

Along with our entrepreneurship loans, this young program has already produced great results thanks to your funding and our incredible partners at the . Big things to come!

One of our favorite things about living in Guatemala is being surrounded by incredible people and organizations doing amazing work. Another favorite thing is playing connector in this thriving non-profit community.

Our good friends (and fellow Mississippians) Randy and Lynn Poythress Thomas recently moved here and began their mission to feed the homeless and spread the Gospel. When they needed a bread provider, we knew just the guys! Weekly, they buy hundreds of pieces of freshly made bread from San Lu bakery (recipients of our first small business loan) and take to the streets of towns around Antigua with smiles and servant hearts.

We love being a small part of awesome work being done here and seeing businesses that launched from our program play an integral role. People helping people!

SONSHINE-Ministries Guatemala

It’s fun to fund fun! (say that 5 times fast)

It’s even better when that fun is attached to a job. Thanks to your generosity, the was able to hire Otto who teaches P.E. classes to K-9th grade students and runs the after-school sports program. This has been crucial for students’ healthy development, concentration in classes, confidence, and the learning of important life skills through team sports.

We love when our two core tenets of education + employment come together. Here’s to the next star of or coming out of the School of Hope! ⚽️🥅🏆

We had the privilege of appearing on the latest episode of the Education for the Children Foundation's Voices of Hope podcast. We had a blast recounting the crazy way we got connected and how our goal of creating opportunity through education + employment fits into the mission of the EFTC. We are so proud to be partners and friends with their amazing staff and be a small part of their whole child strategy. Give it a listen to find out what we’re doing together in Guatemala! https://spoti.fi/3XS0Pxf

We simply could not be prouder of these guys!

Our team had the pleasure of taking a tour with Andrés and José, the owners of Sanlu Pan, who received our first ever entrepreneurship grant. To say they’ve come a long way since opening the first location is an understatement. With 4 shops open and another coming soon, they’re basically building a bread empire (yum)!

More importantly, they’re employing 16 people from communities around San Lucas, and you can’t help but get fired up while hearing them speak with pride about their employees. They glow as they remark on how once timid workers now take ownership of their place in this booming operation. There are stories of growth, redemption, and opportunities seized.

We are so proud of all the hard work that has gone into building this business (we checked to make sure that they were making time to sleep). Your generosity in giving makes dreams like these reality. We thank you for that.

Happy Día del Trabajo (Labor Day) in Guatemala!

Each day, this country buzzes with an energy of hard work and determination. What a great day to celebrate the amazing businesses we’ve been blessed to help launch. A barbershop, an ice cream shop, a pizzeria, a bakery with 3 locations, an Internet cafe (and one coming soon 😉). We admire how each entrepreneur believes in themself and more importantly, believes in a mission to hire employees and create opportunity for others. We couldn’t be prouder of the hard work and dedication that it takes to start/run a small business. As always, a big shout out to for their incredible partnership.

Today we celebrated Palm Sunday, the 6th and final Sunday before Semana Santa (Holy Week) leading into Easter. Our family joined what felt like a million people in town to watch processions and celebrate this joyous occasion.

This is a crazy season here in Guatemala. Fun…but crazy. What a great time to pause and remember that the King of Kings humbled himself on this day and rode into town on a donkey knowing what lay ahead of Him. Thankful for that today and all days.

Shoutout to Nathan Louder and Shoreline City Guatemala for kicking our day off so well 🙌🏽

What a treat to appear on the latest episode of the Education for the Children Foundation's Voices of Hope podcast. Come to hear Adolfo talk about his journey to becoming a successful business owner and what that means to him. Stay for some very average Southern Spanish from Ty New.

It’s such an honor to be a small part of creating opportunities - through entrepreneurship - that truly change lives. Listen here: https://spoti.fi/3T5Vlg8

The training wheels are off, and our staff is rolling! 🚴🏽‍♀️💨

To begin this new school year in Guatemala, our teacher staff has taken the lead on training 3 neighboring schools on how to run their own literacy program.

It was always our dream to raise up leaders, so we are happy to take a back seat and watch these amazing women as their gifts multiply and more and more teachers, schools, and students are impacted!

Vamos! Another school year is underway at the School of Hope, and this is a big one as it’s the 20 year anniversary of the Education for the Children Foundation opening the school.

Thanks to you, 68 students are sponsored and from your generosity during our 2022 end of year campaign, this year students will receive bus fare, medicinal support, and have the opportunity to participate in entrepreneurship/employment programs. We are looking forward to another incredible year!

We have BIG things planned for 2023 with our partners Education for the Children Foundation & Provee, but before we hit the ground running this year, we wanted to look back at some of our favorite achievements from students, teachers, & entrepreneurs in 2022. YOU made this happen, and we couldn’t be more grateful for your generosity. Cheers to another year of creating opportunities!

We can’t contain our excitement because…YOU DID IT! You bought sweatshirts, you ate shrimp + beignets, and you generously gave to help us pass our Holiday Campaign giving goal in support of the Education for the Children Foundation.

$51,837 that will all go directly to teachers via two positioned salaries and directly to students via medicinal needs, bus fare to get to school, and entrepreneurship/employment programs.

We humbly say thank you and hopefully pray over the opportunities that your gifts will create in Guatemala. Vamos!

How to make the most wonderful time of the year even more…wonderful? A Holiday sponsor visit!

We love showing off all the great work that Education for the Children Foundation is doing to our sponsors. Seeing their giving in action always makes it more special.

Want to help us keep creating opportunities like this? Visit https://www.projectapoyo.org/holiday-giving/ — We’re just ~$4k away from our goal!

Is it even possible to have a shrimp boil without music? We didn't want to risk it! We are super excited to have Julio Roots + Maria Renata play live at Fermento in Antigua on Sunday. If you haven't purchased your tickets, please do so today so we can order shrimp!

This event is going to help us reach our giving goal in support of the Education for the Children Foundation. Teachers, job training, medicine, bus fare. These are real opportunities that you are creating, and we are grateful for your support. See y'all Sunday!

Tickets: https://apoyo.kindful.com/e/inaugural-shrimp-boil